Blyth’s dominance paid off after 66 minutes, when a neat flick by the energetic Sean Reid found Dale in the box, where he was clearly fouled.

Dale himself took the resulting penalty and fired confidently past Rowley’s right hand to put Blyth ahead.

The home side almost equalised five minutes later, when McHugh had to palm away a dangerous free kick by Aaron Griffiths.

Nevertheless, it was Blyth who were in control, and Richardson forced Rowley to save well with his legs from close range before a stinging Paul Robinson drive was well saved by Rowley, who managed to push the ball on to the bar and away to safety.

Blyth’s Reid suffered what, at first, looked like a nasty injury as the final whistle approached, and there was a scare for the visitors in the last minute of normal time when a curling effort, from distance, by Griffiths hit the Blyth bar and rebounded out of play.

Referee Guy Stretton played nine added minutes, but the Spartans kept their concentration and saw the game out.

This was never a pretty game to watch, but from Blyth’s point of view it was a very well-won three points, resulting from a performance which showed guts, togetherness and a steely resolve.

Blyth’s next game is at home to another West Midlands side, Rushall Olympic, in the Northern Premier League on Saturday, kicking off at 3pm.